Ex-Aide Refuses to Surrender Papers for Fund-Raising Probe

A third former Clinton administration official refused Thursday to give Congress documents subpoenaed for investigations of Democratic fund-raising, claiming a 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

In addition to refusing document subpoenas, former White House aide Mark E. Middleton said in a statement that he would ainvoke his 5th Amendment privilege to resist demands to testify in any chearings held by House or Senate committees.

Middleton said t the allegation he had “improperly solicited a $15 million campaign contribution in Taiwan has proved to be false, and my sole accuser has recanted his own accusation.”

Former Associate Atty. Gen. Webster L. Hubbell and ex-Commerce Department official John Huang also have refused to give documents to a House committee. Huang, who became a top Democratic National Committee fund-raiser, has turned over some documents.

Middleton, who worked as a deputy to senior presidential advisor Thomas “Mack” McLarty, left President Clinton’s staff in 1995 to become an international business consultant. He returned to the White House more than 60 times and frequently used the private restaurant, where, presidential aides say, he may have entertained private clients.